Santa's Coming to Town 2008

We took our yearly train trip to the North Pole for a visit with Santa today. We didn't take the Polar Express this year, but still had a successful visit with Santa.

Kendal's New Look

Kendal picked out this new cut. She really wanted her hair to be much shorter, but I thought this was a good length to start the short look. No more tangles, no more tears!

Halloween with the Kerth's

Pictures before the big night. We had a great time spending this holiday in Mandeville trick or treating as well as consuming massive amounts of food that the neighborhood had waiting for the kids (and parents) encase anyone got hungry while out and about on the big night.

More Birthday Party Pics

AnnElyse Turns 1

Kendal and I joined the Malones, friends, and family to help celebrate their little ones first birthday. It was a very fun filled day for all. We went to a local pumpkin patch for the big event.

Harvest Day 2008

OK - when one of your best friends tells you "GET OUT OF BEING THE TROOP LEADER", listen. It is a ton of work. No really Kendal and I both are enjoying our Troop 206.This is our first outing to the Girl Scout Camp for Harvest Day. I think the girls all had a great time.

It's October Let's talk Fears in Life

For me, my current fears, will the right candidate get elected, will my 401 be at a negative when I wake in the morning,will one of these rather large pine trees in my backyard fall on my roof aft a bad storm. For Kendal, well it is another story. First of all, this picture has nothing to do with fears, but it is pretty scary picture so it was a must share. Her current and most prevalent fear is one from a different location. Fear of a over flowing toilet . Yes, we have gotten to the point, we are scared to put toilet paper in the commode. Flushing is out of the question, and when this necessary act is performed, plungers must be on standby. Most children of her age ask to watch movies, or go to toys r us, not my lovely daughter, she asked to purchase an extra plunger, one for each bathroom even though it would take about 30 seconds to get from one bathroom to another in the case of an emergency. One would speculate that she has experienced trauma at home in this area, but on the contrary, her experience falls from her last daycare more than 1 year prior and it is still her nightmare. Man, I'm glad I wasn't there that cleanup operation. Anyway, if Kendal comes to visit and fear is displayed with the bathroom situation, don't fret, she didn't overload your commode, but check the trash can for things that might need to be disposed of sooner than later.

Soccer game 3

This was our only night game, thank goodness. Rather difficult getting out there after work. The cute blonde is Ava Grace. Ava's brother Nye and dad are also included in some of the pictures. Again, a loss but much fun had by all. I think we did score 2 times this game, one more than last game, yeah!

Bluff Park Art Show 2008

The first Saturday in October, our neighborhood throws an art show that is a big hit in Birmingham. In these pictures Kendal and her dear friends Pace and Tru are having fun at the children's art section of the show. It was a bit crazy causing Cindy and I to get a bit frazzled, but very much enjoyed by all.

Daisy Troop 206

OK, so somehow in my spare time I signed up to be Daisy Troop 206 Leader. I have a great co-leader Bonnie that handles all the "stuff" that I really don't like to deal with. She handles the money, books, etc and I get to do all the fun stuff. This was meeting number 1. So far so good. Today though, one of the Mom's said I must be very creative for my house was so artsy. Me creative, she must have been sucking up. I love her!!!

Soccer Game One -

Ok the score was 20 to 1, but the attitudes were high and the kids had a great time. All the kids were interested in playing and that is what it is all about and of course the cool uniforms.

Halloween Sneak Preview

 

 

Had to give a preview of the greatest 2008 Halloween outfit. SuperGirl is ready to go!

Soccer 2008 - Will we make it this season????

Well fall is upon us again, so we thought we would give soccer another shot. This time Hal is the coach and we have Ava Grace on the team. We did learn the other 3 players all played as Kendal did last season or should I say as Kendal didn't play last year, so this year we could have a team of sideliners watching the other team play their own team members. Hopefully not. Cross your fingers that Ava Grace will be our inspiration and get these guys on the field.

Archiologist in the Makings

 

 

 

Kendal and I are slowly pulling out all the wonderful birthday presents she got for her 5th birthday. Pace and Tru gave Kendal this a Crystal Mining present. Kendal displayed signs patience that I couldn't comprehend as being possible. We haven't gotten all the jewels out of the chunk of rock yet, but I think a discovery is in the works.

Birthday Number 5!

This party was thrown together in about 1 day. Kendal and I were headed to New Orleans for her birthday, but Gustav changed locations for several of us. It is great to have friends like Kerri, who supplied the water slide. This allowed us to create a perfect party for Kendal and something to take Rhonda and Michelle's kids off Gustav who was lingering in their backyards. Also thanks to Neal who played jail keeper of the slides. I hope he was having as much fun as the kids were.

Daisy's BFF

 

Daisy 's met her BFF

 

Last week, Kendal and I were over joyed with a house full of friends. Luckily, Daisy felt the same way. It took a bit for Daisy to realize the size of Rody, but once she did,the 2 played together like long lost pals. At first, one would have thought Daisy weighed the 12 pounds and Rody was the 88 pound er, in this game who is the leader of the pack. In this picture, the 2 are ready for a nap, Rody in his safe place, and Daisy right next to him to keep him company all night long.

Horsing Around

The kids had a blast learning a bit about riding. It was a VERY VERY hot day,but a great time was had by all. Thanks Ellen!!

Kerth's to Birmingham

The Kerth's came to Bham. We took them to the Mcwayne Center for a bit of digging, out on a letterboxing adventure, to our favorite train for some climbing, and back home to play on our new swing set.

First Day of School

Kendal is headed off to the big "K" and is both happy and sad. She is a little sad for leaving her old school and friends, but after about 1 week now, is getting accustomed to her new settings. For me, it is still hard driving up to the door, and watching her jump out of the car, walk through large glass doors without me walking her to her class. This school is much larger than her last, there are a total of 33 classes for K through 5 with 6 K classes alone. The class sizes are small anywhere between 12-16 kids.

Rock City 2008

We visited the aquarium and nearby activities. These are pictures of Rock City. Kendal is crossing a swinging bridge and Sarah Anne is looking over a 5 state span. We quite enjoyed this portion of our trip.

We also went to Ruby Falls, a cave that is 200 + feet underground. You take a guided tour to see a underground waterfall. For me, this was not quite as enjoyable as Rock City. It severely challenged my claustrophobia and ability to keep Kendal enjoying this hike since she instantly wanted to leave when we got off the elevator seeing the dark, damp, tightly spaced rock surrounding. This was quite a mentally torturous hike. I don't know what she thought of my drenched clothes when we hit the surface again. I did get a little bit of a upper extremity workout since I carried her for 2 hours straight, so all was not lost.

We might just skip this tour for the next 100 or so years.

3 for 1: Remember the Days?

Can you believe it. 3 birthday parties in one day. Wow, it was a busy one. The first 2 parties were for kids from school and the last my dear friend Kelley's daughter's birthday party, so we could not blow it off as most might after attending the first 2 highly stimulating parties full of screaming children.

Party 1: This is a picture while getting ready for party number 1. Here Kendal is holding a picture of her cousin Sarah Anne who was coming to town in the following week. She is getting so excited for the up and coming weeks.
The slide at party number 1. It looked like a blast. I was really hoping Kendal would get nervous so I could go save her and slide down myself, but no such luck. I guess those rescue days are dwindling away.
Party number 2, I have no pictures. I forgot the camera in the car after frantically changing Kendal in the car from wet to dry outfits.
Party 2 was at a Pump it Up. Again a party in the past that I was able to enjoy all the slides by being the good parent and rescuing Kendal from the terrifying slides, all the while having a blast myself. No longer is she wanting me to save her, what I am to do?

These pics are from party number 3: I think the location is Gym and Me. Here a bit blurry, but I thought it was very cute of Kendal popping her head out of this barrel.

Again party number 3. It is amazing last year Kendal's face was one of fear on this slide, this year she is actually having fun on the slide wanting to do this over and over and over again.

The birthday girl is in the ballerina outfit with Dad standing close in the background. Other close friend's children - the two boys in the matching animal print outfits.(btw - Mom made the outfits, so orders please let me know). All are ready to take their turn on the slide.








Vacation pics coming soon!

Am I maturing too Fast????

Hi guys, Happy Summer or should I say Happy Hurricane Season that we should now all pray will be a mild one. Today pics are of Kendal and Casey (next door neighbor) painting Father Day presents. I really wanted to keep them busy while I fixed supper, and got my mind of today's daycare events.
Kendal and Casey really got into understanding the mixing of paint and what colors they could create as well as making the "water" change to chocolate. I just had to keep them from drinking this nasty concoction.
Truly I was trying to get out our minds off the latest and greatest from the "Ham's daycare".

Today when I went to pick Kendal up from school the kids were on the playground as usual. Typical hot, sweaty, and ready for the air conditioned car, when I couldn't find her. At first, as with my normal panic mindset, I was thinking , where the hell is she, then I see Kendal and Tyrone appear out of the train tunnel that is close by. After hugs and kisses, I curiously asked her what she and Tyrone were doing in this tunnel that she informs me, "we were kissing. Not just once, but many times". I asked in a curious but funny tone, well how many times 5 and I get the answer back - way more than that. Then knowing Tyrone is an older man of 5, I have to ask, well how many times, more than 5, more than 10, more than 100. Kendal tells me "Mom no not that many". Thank God, I would hate my 4 year old to want to kiss a boy in a hidden tunnel more than 100 times. I didn't even ask what equated to a kiss, not sure what I would hear at this point. So, in a panic mode I called 2 dear friends from New Orleans with older kids, reaching one right away and asked for her expertise how to handle my Tyrone situation and get the answer - use germs. So I did, we discussed kissing and germs, hoping to make her disgusted by the idea and not try this again until she is 30. Will keep you posted if my methods worked.

Letter Boxing Again!

OK, so this very cute train picture has nothing to do with this blog, but I couldn't resist passing this along to friends and family. I had to write today about our latest and greatest letter boxing experience. We are truly loving this activity. Today, we ventured into the near by Moss Creek Reserve. Finding this box was quite challenging. We had to cross rock bridges, master walking out number of "feet", as well as heading north and south without the use of a compass. (the north and south wasn't too difficult since I've done some climbing/bouldering in this area and know my where abouts well enough.) The challenge was getting Kendal comfortable being deep in a wooded area on very narrow pathways. We had to tackle every moth, butterfly, nanometer size ant to the very large fire ants. I didn't even mention to her the possibility of the close snake holes or the noises of larger critters wondering about us. I then discussed roots and rocks and how to avoid stepping on the roots b/c they were parts of trees, which was a very big mistake on my part. This medium size hike became quite long as Kendal determined what was a root, a tree skeleton (or as we know it a stick), or a mystery of the unknown. We then had to crawl over or under a very large pipe, wonder off the trail into a wooded area to find this one dead tree. Under a particle section of the dead tree, which was hard to locate, was the letter box which had to be dug out using my freshly painted fingernails. Anyway, we did find the box, make our mark and read all the messages people from all over the southeast had left in this mystery location. On the way back, we mastered the crossing of creeks learning how to read the rocks making sure it would be a sound rock to avoid falling into the deep unknown depths of algae waiting below. She was quite proud of herself.

On the ride home, I thought I heard myself seated in her booster chair . "Oh look at that poor puppy. Can we go back and get him and take him home. He looks like he doesn't have anywhere to go." Watch me end up with 25 dogs, the neighbors call Six on Your Side, or they just form a posee and shoot me. No, we didn't take him home, probably b/c I couldn't find the pup when I turned the car around to track him/her down.

Well I wouldn't call Kendal a picture in the Patagonia Magazine displaying their latest hiking gear (yet), but glad that she is enjoying one of my favorite pass times.

Hope every had a great day as we did today.

Happy Memorial Day! Kendal and her friend Casey are having a tea party in a tent we found hidden away. Popcorn and water was the menu for the day.

Updates on Park Avenue

I wanted to send updated pictures to the changes I've made to the house. I pulled up the Juniper and added the Hawthorne that you see under the windows. I think it looks much cleaner and orderly, just like I like it.

I don't know if you remember the flower bed that was in the front corner of the house. There were several dead trees and some very over grown weeds. Well, we udpated it by planting 3 new trees, some small ferns, as well as some Rosemary.

I think it is going to look wonderful after the trees fill in a bit. It already has had the neighbors stop and tell me how much better things are looking.

Letter Boxing 2008

Good morning to all and Happy Mother's Day!

Kendal and I started a new venture - called LetterBoxing. (http://letterboxing.org/). This is a style of "treasure hunting" for all ages and all locations. From what I'm learning, this is for young and older populations and is internationally recognized. Check out the website in your area. How it works, you go online and find a treasure map that leads you to a box that has a stamp - usually custom made, a note book, and lots of fun discovering it. This picture is one location that Kendal and I found about a week ago. Well, I should say Kendal found the box, I was looking under the bridge that you will see in one of the lower pictures, while Kendal looked instantly in the correct location. Here we have taken out neighbors out to discover the mystery box as well.
Once you find the correct site, you stamp your book with the stamp that was left in the metal box at the "X" spot and leave your mark in the book that is in this metal box. This allows the map creator to keep up with how many people uncover his/her treasure map. It's fun to find, fun to see the others that have discovered the hidden container, as well as see how creative others stamps can be. Most are self designed.

For me, this is getting Kendal comfortable with the outdoors. She hasn't instantly picked up on both Hal and my love for the outdoors, but this is getting Kendal going on trails that she wasn't interested in discovering until we were directed to this website.
In these pictures, Kendal wanted to wear her soccer shoes, telling Ryan (seen here) she was the #1 soccer player on her team. Probably b/c he hit a home run the day before and she loves competing. (I guess she has picked up on a trait or two). Lastly, is the picture of the bridge where I thought I had to dredge inorder to find this metal treasure box. Thank goodness Kendal said, "Mom that looks a bridge and that looks like a shelf under the bridge". I wasn't looking forward in scaling along this wall to find the hidden box of goodies.

Hope all had a great Mom's Day!!